


Scuttlebutt

by quicksylver28



Series: Atlantis- Slice of Life [3]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Humor, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-11-26 17:37:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18183695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksylver28/pseuds/quicksylver28
Summary: Lorne and Kavanaugh navigate their new relationship on the city of Atlantis





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i don't really have much of a plot. just an idea of what i want. mot sure how long this is going to be. maybe four to five chapters long.
> 
> My writing has a way of inserting surprise plot on me and i can kind of see one forming so we'll see where it takes us.

 

“So… Kavanaugh.”

Lorne paused at the words before ducking a swift right hook. Fllicking sweat off his brow, he cocked a curious eye brow at his Parrish; whose footwork seemed to be improving as he bobbed and weaved across the mat.

“Was that a question?” he asked, dryly; feigning a left jab and almost clipping the other man across the chin. “…Or an opinion.”

Parrish shrugged, his thin t-shirt pulling along his muscled shoulders. The thin grey shirt was dark with sweat, plastering to the scientist’s lean body. Life on Atlantis, even for the personnel who didn’t often venture off world; was not easy or simple.

A combination of stress, physical activity and mandatory self-defense training had left most of the civilians almost as fit as their military counterparts.

The mandatory self-defense program was a joint effort of Sheppard and Weir with the approval of both Heightmeyer and Beckett, an extension of the “look out for the Geeks” initiative, and Evan had approved of it heartily. And even though there had been much griping and belly aching by the non-military personnel, everyone turned up regularly for their scheduled sessions.

Evan had personally taken over personal work out sessions with Parrish, as the only civilian on his team. The extra training, along with team training, had trimmed the man down into someone who could handle himself in a fight. It was a far cry from the shy scientist who had preferred his labs to the dangers of going through the gate.

Sometimes that made Evan a bit sad but everyone who had agreed to come to Atlantis knew that their lives would be forever changed. Besides, the man had become one of Evan’s best friends in the city and he was glad that he’d made the effort to get to know him better.

“A bit of both maybe?” David waffled, wiping his brow with his forearm. “Scuttlebutt is that you guys have been hot and heavy since Halloween and that one of you is using the other for a booty call. Stories vary on that point but I’ve been hearing some crazy stuff.”

Evan huffed a laugh, rotating his shoulders as he called quits to the session. He pulled off his boxing gloves, taking time to think before he responded. It’s not like he and Calvin had been secretive in spending a bit of time together but they also hadn’t talked about it to anyone else either.

In fact, Cal, with all his blunt attitude and sometimes asshole behavior, was a very private individual and preferred to take things slow. Evan respected that. The whole thing was just too new to know what he thought about it. They weren’t in love or anything, just mutually attracted.

“And are you asking this for yourself or were you put up to this?”

David flushed a bit, giving him a sheepish grin as he stowed away his own gloves. “Yeah. Okay. Miko asked me to find out. What can I say? She gives me that kawaii look and I melt right out of my boots. Not to mention she promised me something special tonight if I did a good job. Wouldn’t want to cock block a guy now, would you?”

“And you’re saying that Miko didn’t get put up to this by Zalenka and McKay… who in turn got a little nudge from Col. Sheppard?” Evan barked a laugh, reaching for his reusable water bottle. He drained it and tucked it into his duffel before turning to his friend with a sardonic look. “Real subtle… all of you.”

“Well, you have to admit that it’s a bit… odd. I mean…“ David made an ‘I don’t know’ gesture with his hands. “I’ve gotten to know Kav pretty well by now and he doesn’t seem like your type, that’s all.”  
He made a thoughtful face before confessing. “And we’re all fucking nosy too.”

“That’s sounding a bit like an opinion Doc.” Evan stated magnanimously, grabbing his duffel and slinging it over his shoulder. “Besides, gentlemen never kiss and tell… I’ll talk about it when I’m good and ready so you guys will just have to suffer in silence” he glanced down at David’s crotch with smirk “…and blue balls until then. Good luck in getting anything special tonight.”

David’s indignant cry echoing across the gym was a delight to hear.

\------------------------

Frankly, there wasn’t even that much to tell. Other than spending time together and some sweet, hot kissing, they hadn’t gotten very physical at all. Of course, Evan desired the other man physically and wanted him as a lover and he knew that Cal felt the same way, but the scientist was surprisingly hesitant when it came to jumping into bed together. It had led to many nights spent with his hand and a bottle of lotion but Lorne was a military man and he knew about riding out dry spells.

There were many opportunities for companionship in the floating city and even on the neighboring Athosian settlement. Teyla’s people’s view on casual sex was liberating for many on the city and the “Enjoy life while you can” mentality had quickly spread among the expedition members.

Granted, there were a number of unique problems that cropped up in the after math like unwanted pregnancies, increased birth control education and usage as well as therapy for people who felt hurt emotionally, physically as well as those who suffered a sexuality crisis.

The result was a city wide campaign about sexual ethics, sexual education and consent. There had been at least a few brutal beat downs from Sheppard, Ronon and even Teyla on the training mats of soldiers who’d taken things a little too far too fast. The bad ones were tossed back to earth to face charges.

The civilians were also kept in line by the tag team of Weir, McKay and Heightmeyer and faced expulsion back to earth and termination of their contracts if found guilty of transgressions.

Stripping off his gym gear and stepping into his shower, he turned on the sonics with a thought. For the past week, the science department had been overhauling the main water treatment plant in the city and everyone had been put on water rations.

People were not happy about the situation but the treatment plant had been in dire need service and repair if they wanted it to last another ten thousand years.

Evan didn’t like the sonic showers much, the vibrations edging his teeth; but he tolerated them well enough. At least they got him clean without the weird feeling that others usually complained of.

He was just lacing up his boots when his comm device chirped. Searching through his bed clothes, he fished out the earwig and put it on, toggling to the open channel.

“Lorne.”

Zalenka’s voice came through. “Major. You’re needed at the gate room sir. SGA Team 7 is due to report back from Planet DX58346 in approximately twenty minutes and Colonel Sheppard is scheduled to be in the chair for another half hour.”

“Roger that. Will be there in five” Evan replied, strapping on the rest of his gear.

Policy demanded that a commanding officer be present every time a team was scheduled back through the gate. With the colonel in the chair at McKay’s request, overseeing the water plant overhaul; it fell to Lorne to be present in the gate room.

He made quick time, nodding at Radek as he pulled up the mission information on one of the ancient tablets. Team 7 had been tasked with negotiating with a local orchard on the planet for trees that bore fruit very close to olives. The botany department had been experimenting with the plant extensively over the last month.

So far they’d been able to pull oil from the fruit, make wax from the leaves and pull a kind of sap from the bark that the biology department had all but been making grabby hands at. All in all, almost the entire science department was very interested in the negotiations.

He leaned a hip against the main console, watching as people hustled to and fro across the gate room. The team was five minutes out and Lorne’s gut was already starting to tighten up in anticipation. Even though the mission had been a milk run, he’d learned a hard lesson in not being prepared for anything whenever the ring activated.

Thank god, both Sheppard and McKay had convinced Weir to move the main command centre away from the gate room. Now, only essential personnel were allowed and additional shielding and defenses had been installed; including a couple of mounted rail guns that Evan lovingly called the ‘Twins’.

“Escaped from the belly of the beast have you, Doc?” Placing the tablet aside and taking note of the time, he glanced over at Zalenka with a smirk. “I heard from Parrish that some of the older waterlogged tunnels are the stuff of nightmares.”

“I’ve seen things, Major. Horrible things down in those pipes.” The smaller scientist made a disgusted face. “The smell of ten thousand year old stagnant water is like a living creature. It kept trying to claw its way into my orifices. My mouth, my nose… even my eyes and ears. I had to take three sonic showers after my last shift down in that god-forsaken place. I can still feel the vibrations in my molars. Hrozné.”

Evan saw one of the other gate techs paling, most likely thanking their lucky stars that they hadn’t been assigned a shift in scraping down the ancient water tunnels. Yet. By now most of the military had been conscripted to a shift down in the water plant and Evan had been hearing of the horrors of dealing with millennia old sludge.

He hadn’t been down as yet but he wasn’t looking forward to it. Most of the Science Division had already rotated out and the only reason why there hadn’t been too much push back was that McKay and his team had been down in the trenches every day without too much complaint.

Well, McKay complained almost constantly but it didn’t stop him from gritting his teeth and heading down each morning. That had gone a long way into soothing some of the disgruntled scientists and military alike.

That and the fact that Sheppard had been sitting with the chair, working closely with the city through the whole process and would often have to be carted off to bed at the end of his shifts.

Evan suppressed a grin and the other man’s ire. “I take it the great sea water flush didn’t help matters any?”

“Sadly, no.” Zalenka sighed heavily, “It was a good idea in theory. Even the City herself thought so. Who would have guessed that the high salt content would react with the sediment packed along the piping? Most of the crud and algae was flushed out but what was left has become caked along the sides and has to be scraped off manually.”

The rest of the conversation was cut short when the first chevron activated and Evan signaled for the rest of the gate room crew to fall into formation.

Fortunately, the team’s return was situation: normal and soon enough the team was dismissed to debrief. The botanists would be in for a treat as the negotiations had been a success.

Evan joined Radek in doing the post return check and, after checking in with the shift officer, he headed down to the chair room to check on the colonel. If he’d timed it right, he would arrive just as Sheppard was coming off the chair.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters may get a bit rambly but it's a slice of Life story so don't say i didn't warn you. i'm going to try out different POVs so the story gets told by several people in the city and maybe out.

Cal grunted as a particularly large piece of dried scum flaked off the pipe wall. It felt cathartic, like peeling off an old scab; which was small comfort in the midst of such a hellish experience. This was his fifth shift in the pipe works, two more than anyone else in the city except McKay’s own science team, and he was certainly feeling wretched from all the physical effort.

His back and shoulders ached, his heavy work gloves slipping from sweat around the handle of the re-purposed snow shovel. It was the only tool that engineering had been able to fabricate easily that could handle the volume of work needed to be done. Granted, it shucked crud off the walls of the pipe like nobody’s business but it left a person feeling like their arms would fall off after just a few hours.

He, like everyone else who’d been scheduled for a shift in the pipes, had complained loudly and bitterly. No one had wanted to spend even a second in the dark, dank pipes that ran for miles under the city, covered in slippery sludge that stank to high heaven. 

By his second shift, he’d sworn that McKay had been out to make him rage quit Atlantis and it had taken his team mates physically piling onto him to keep him from storming up to Weir and lodging a formal complaint.

By his third shift, he’d only kept his sanity by the sight of seeing the rest of his team geared up and ready to go spelunking with him. Since then they’d matched him shift for shift and he’d been touched by the unspoken show of loyalty and care. He looked down the shaft to where Cadman’s head lamp was bobbing along as she wielded her own muckraker.

Alvarez and Mickey were working their way through adjacent pipes and he could hear the faint strains the large Spanish marine singing a song from one of the telenovelas that he’d been making them binge watch. 

And even though Cal understood enough rudimentary Spanish to muddle through the plot, even with subtitles the show was way too convoluted to keep track of. 

That didn’t stop the Alvarez from trying to talk his way through the whole thing, either to his team or to the characters on screen. It made for some entertaining evenings though.

His breath was loud in his re-breather, the leather straps secured tightly around his head, sticking to his sweat damp skin. His curls were slick against his skull, smooshed down by his protective gear. 

His rubber boots squelched in the sludge collected at the bottom of the pipe, his sealed work suit crinkling as he shucked off another large piece of crud. As it slid off the blade of the shovel, he stood back with a great sigh, massaging his back through the crinkly suit.

“Five more minutes to freedom” Virgil Mickey’s calm voice came across the comm, though it seemed a bit breathy with relief.

“Thank God“, Laura Cadman gasped, her light bobbing as her shovel thunked against the pipe floor. “I can’t wait to get out of this god damned purgatory.”

“Amen, L.T.” Alvarez grunted. “I feel as if we’ve been down here for years. I’ve forgotten what sunlight on my skin feels like. Mierda.”

Cal grunted again, too fucking fed up with everything to even speak. He hacked at another particularly thick piece of crust, prying it off the pipe with a ragged cry. With a loud, echoing crack, a huge chunk pulled away from the ancient metal and crashed to the floor, sending Cal falling back unto his ass.

“Fuck” he groaned out loud, leaning back against the curved wall. “That’s it. I’m fucking done. McKay can go fuck himself if he think I’ll coming down here ever again. Fuck all this fucking shit.”

“Tell us how you really feel” Cadman deadpanned as her light bobbed closer until she was standing over him. She leaned against her shovel and thrust out a hand. “I know that McKay’s got a real hard on for you but this seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Did you do anything recently to piss him off?”

“Not that I can recall. I’ve been keeping a low profile lately.” Cal let her pull him to his feet, shaking his head as they trudged back towards the midpoint station. “This whole water plant thing has the whole city on a short fuse and I’d rather not get shoved through the gate into hard vacuum or off the nearest pier because I pissed some asshole off. The xenobiologists are still chumming the waters off the west pier for their aquatic predator research. I don’t want to end up in Jaws’ belly.”

Mickey laughed. “Glad to see your survival instinct has gotten a bit better.”

“It’s not that.” Cadman barked a laugh, “… it’s because his twatwaffle has gotten smaller.”

“A Twatwaffle? What the fuck is that?” Alvarez voice was laced with humour.

“It’s a small organ situated close to his rectum,” Cadman quipped lightly, “… it shrinks and gets weaker when he doesn’t use it as often.”

Mickey joined in. “And if it’s used too often, it can become swollen and extremely painful.”

Cal gave his team a withering glare as they met up in the huge pipe junction. “Is this some smartass way of calling me a pain in the ass?”

“More like a pain in your own ass.” Cadman muttered as she gave him a gentle shove towards the ladder. “… and that almost always ends up being a pain in all of our asses.”

Cal just sighed and conceded the point, too exhausted to protest. Besides, it’s not like they were entirely wrong. He could be an extreme twat in certain circumstances. Even though being on his team had tempered that behavior somewhat, it was still a work in progress.

That was one of the reasons why he’d been hesitant about pursuing a relationship with Major Lorne. By all accounts, Evan had a good reputation around the city as a good soldier and friend. He was laid back, good natured, competent, calm under pressure and had a dry sense of humour that Cal appreciated deeply. He was also kind, caring, sweet and an excellent kisser. And hot like burning.

On the other hand, Cal was work obsessed, kind of bitter, neurotic, arrogant asshole with a really poor brain to mouth filter and an acerbic tongue. Not exactly a match made in heaven. 

It would have been no problem for them to just fall into bed together to scratch an itch but a few things held him back from going down that route. One, he was tired of casual liaisons and one night stands and wanted to form a deeper connection with someone special. And the Major had the potential to be that someone. 

Second, the man was beloved by the city and her inhabitants and if Cal fucked things up then the social backlash could just be enough to lose him his place on the exhibition. It was a cold look at the situation but Cal had experienced those kind of repercussions first hand before. It had been upsetting then but to lose Atlantis because of a bad break up would be fucking devastating. 

The court of public opinion was a cruel and ravenous one, even in a place like Atlantis. He was already on the wrong side of most of the command staff and it was only his and his lab team’s excellent work that gave him most of his worth on the city.

He shook off the callous thoughts, grunting as he peeled the sweaty plastic suit from his body. The air in the communal change room chilled his damp skin as he rested his elbows on his knees; letting his head hang in exhaustion. He could hear his team moving around him, taking and laughing tiredly as they stripped. 

Using the sonic showers felt like adding insult to injury and he shuddered through the second round as he scrubbed at his naked body with the special loofa grown on the mainland. He barely heard Alvarez inviting the others over for another movie night, both Cadman and Mickey groaning because the young marine always chose latin dramas when it was his turn. 

A warm hand on his shoulder pulled him from his wool gathering and he looked up to see Cadman watching him with a look of concern. She gave him a small smile and a friendly pat.

“I’ll talk to the assignment officer about the shifts, okay?” her voice was soft and steady. “I think that we’ve seen enough of those damn pipes for one lifetime.” 

He nodded, smiling tiredly at her before getting dressed. They parted ways at the transporters, Cal stepping in and hesitating over the map screen. He briefly contemplated heading to the cafeteria for something to eat but decided against it. He felt too scraped raw to deal with social niceties and the cafeteria felt like too much of a minefield. 

He still had some power bars and dried fruit in his room so he pressed the button for the station closest. He would have to remember to restock his small cache though, it had been getting pretty low. 

As his quarter doors swished closed behind him, he felt blindly for the lock and toggled it before stripping naked once again; kicking his clothes into a pile in the corner. The power bars and dried apricots took effort to munch through but he made himself finish them along with a bottle of water.

Then finally, setting his alarm for four hours so that he had enough time to get down to the lab for his normal shift, he flopped unto the bed with a sigh. 

He groaned weakly, squirming to get comfortable on the cool bedding before flopping over unto his stomach. God, everything hurt. He felt like a rubber band that had been stretched way too far then snapped back to curl up on itself.

Rubbing his face into his cool pillow, he sighed heavily; letting his heavy eyes fall closed. He made an absent mental note to pass by the medbay for some muscle relaxant and from one breath to the next, fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Laura quickly fell into step with the scurrying scientist, returning his awkward smile with one of her own.

“Michelson, right?” she tilted her head, clasping her hands behind her back.

“Uh… Yes?” He stumbled as he turned to face her. “Um… How can I help you…?”

“Lt. Cadman. Team 9” She grinned disarmingly, herding him subtly to one side where they slowed to a stop. “And you’re Doctor Michelson. You manage the assignment roster for shifts down in the pipes, is that correct?”

He clutched his tablet tightly to his chest as he nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, I wanted to have a word with you about that, Doc.”

“Of… of course” he squeaked as he backed up against the wall, his eyes darting over her shoulders to the people hustling up and down the hallway; as if looking for an escape route. When it became apparent that none was forthcoming, he straightened his shoulders and turned back to face her. “What can I do for you Lt. Cadmium, was it?”

“Cadman.” Laura’s eyebrow twitched as her smile stiffened. She shifted to the left, effectively boxing him in. “I wanted to address an issue with the pipe scrubbing shift assignments. Specifically for a member of my gate team - Dr. Calvin Peter Kavanaugh.”

Michelson’s beady eyes narrowed as his shoulders hunched. His lips went thin and white. “Lieutenant. The roster is compiled entirely by the city computer to be fair and balanced and cannot be tampered with in any way... especially to show any favour or special consideration to specific expedition members.”

He pursed those thin lips, giving her a look of scorn. “I’m not sure what you are seeking to achieve on Kavanaugh’s behalf but I certainly cannot entertain any superfluous appeals to the system. If you would excuse me…”

“Superfluous?” Laura held up a hand and gave him a flat stare. “Is that what you call assigning five shifts in the pipes to one person over a period of as many days. Which, according to the algorithm Zalenka and McKay coded, is two more than the mandated maximum.”

“I beg your pardon…” he sputtered, his face and neck going splotchy red.

“Not to mention the four more shifts assigned to Dr. Kavanaugh for this coming week, making it a total of nine shifts. That’s more than twenty seven hours total in extreme circumstances where Doctor Heightmeyer strictly recommended no more than twelve.”

“Uh… I…” the scientist stuttered, his thin hair plastered to his damp forehead.

“That had me concerned so I approached Zalenka to verify the data, y'know, to see if it was some kind of computer error or oversight.” She leaned a hand against the city wall, feeling it pulse warmly under her skin. She gave the man a mirthless smile. 

“Imagine my surprise when we found that Dr. Kavanaugh had apparently e-signed a waiver stating that he would be able and willing to serve more than the mandatory two sessions.”

Michelson nodded quickly, his glasses sliding down his damp nose. “Well, that solves it then. He signed the waiver. He wanted to do it.”

“Well, not exactly…” She tapped her fingertip against her chin. “Because at the time and date that he was supposed to that approved and signed this waiver, our team was off-world on an overnight mission. He wasn’t even on the city. He also didn’t know a thing about the waiver when we asked him. How do you think that’s possible?”

“I don’t know.” The man paled, gripping his tablet so tight Laura could almost hear it cracking from the strain. “I don’t see what that has to do with me?”

“Here’s where it starts to get interesting.” Laura hummed. “Apparently when the computer compiled the schedule, it left certain allowances according to individual workloads, obligations, physical and psychological ability as well as other emergencies. It allowed for manual changes to the schedule by specially appointed city personnel.”

She clapped a hand on his hunched shoulder, giving it a squeeze as she gave a grin that was more of a baring of teeth. “And that’s where you come in, Doc.” 

“Here’s what I think happened.” She gave him a flat stare. “I think that being put in charge of the roster changes gave you a sense of over inflated power. You realized that people were willing to do a whole hellova lot to get their shift moved or switched. A little favour here, some rare candy or coffee there. A little preferential treatment. Made you feel like a king.”

“Then you got greedy.” She narrowed her gaze. “Started thinking about using your power for your own selfish purposes. You started switching out shifts as you pleased. Adding shifts for people you didn’t like. Messing about with people work schedules so that their other projects got held back or delayed.”

The scientist was shaking his head in denial, eyes wide and alarmed. Laura pressed on nonetheless. “Then you got petty. And you started seriously abusing the power you were given and using it to get back at the people for some imagined slight.”

“Imagined slight?” Michelson hissed, his shoulders hunching like an angry cat. “There was no imagining the incident. That … that man… he… he deliberately humiliated me in front of my colleagues and undermined my work.”

“Oh please...“ Just because he called you… what was it? ‘An incompetent fool with the mind of a dermestid beetle and the resilience of a bot fly.’ ”Laura rolled her eyes. “Pfft. I’ve seen Mckay eviscerate his geeks even worse than that. And your work was flawed, Zalenka confirmed it. Kav only got in your face when you tried proceed to the next stage anyway and endangered your colleagues.”

“Kavanaugh had no right.” The scientist’s face was an angry red. “No right to speak to me like that… in my own lab space no less.”

Laura shrugged. “Yeah well, Kav may be an asshole but he does not abuse his power of his position. Nor does he put his own pride before the safety of his people.”

She watched him carefully as his face flushed dull red, his mouth working without releasing a sound. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a couple of marines standing with a scowling Mckay. The chief scientist had been doubly pissed that he’d been called away from the water plant as well as finding out such a blatant misuse of power by one of his own.

She gave Rodney a small smile and a wink, grateful that he’d let her confront Michelson of Kavanaugh’s behalf before hauling him in for questioning. The recording of the man all but confessing his motive by the city’s surveillance would go a long way in making sure his goose was cooked.

She turned back to Michelson, smirking at the look on his face when he spotted the group waiting for him. 

“Looks like the party’s over, your majesty.”

She patted him on the shoulder in mock commiseration, smiling sweetly at him before turning on her heel and traipsing off. 

……………………………………………….. 

Joaquin plopped down in an empty corner of the cafeteria with a bowl of hearty stew, a large mug of orange peel tea and his notebook. It was the last shift for the kitchens and tonight’s hot pot was a tasty, spicy braised alien cow-thing with root vegetables. It reminded him of a dish his abuela used to make. A little bit of home half way across the universe. 

The orange peel tea he’d made himself, pulling one of the curled, dried orange rinds he’d brought with him from earth. He’d always loved the flavor of the tea made from steeping the dried peel, he’d drank enough of it as a child to sink a ship. It was his abuelita’s cure-all, obligatory hot beverage, hot comfort on a cold night and cool iced drink on a hot afternoon.

His abuelita had been an orange salesman, a hard working woman, peeling and selling bags and bags of the sweet fruit on his rolling cart. Joaquin would sit on a wooden stool buy her side, marveling at the long curls of rind spilling from the hand cranked rotary peeler. He would gather the curls in his little hands and bag them away to take back home where she would then hang them on lines to dry, carefully packaging the brittle rinds in paper to store or gift to neighbors.

He took a sip of the tea, humming in delight and glancing around the almost empty cafeteria. The normally busy room was quiet, with only the smatterings of conversation from the few occupied tables. He could hear the clanking of the pots and pans as the kitchen staff squared things away until the breakfast shift came in. The large floor to ceiling windows gave a breathtaking view of the city by night, its lights reflecting like jewels in the water below. 

He gently pushed hi mug aside, pulling the still steaming bowl of stew closer. Thankfully the late shift staff was accustomed to his night owl behavior and usually kept a little something hot and ready for him when he eventually wandered in. Blowing on his loaded spoonful, he shoved it into his mouth with a grateful moan. Santa Lucita, that was muy delicioso. 

He powered through the bowl of heavy stew, scraping sopping up the last of the sauce with thick hand pulled pieces of fresh, fluffy bread. Thankfully, his tea was still warm after he pushed the empty bowl away and he wrapped his hands around the mug for the last of its warmth.

Belly full and mind cleared, he pulled out a rolled note book from his pocket and opened it in the middle, pulling off the ballpoint pen that was being used as a book mark. Scribbled on the pages were weird symbols that seemed nonsensical. They sprawled across the pages in his own chicken scratch, both horizontal and vertical directions. Joaquin pursed his lips as he concentrated on the markings. The Ancient language was a hard one to understand. Different symbols had totally different meanings depending on how they were grouped and it took a long time for him to wrap his head around the different concepts.

Thankfully, a couple of the geek doctors had taken to teaching the goons how to recognize certain configurations. They’d jokingly called the class ‘Emergency Ancient’ and it was now an official course in which anyone in the city could take part. 

It had started by accident really, on a mission off world. After one too many incidents with marines stumbling into trouble with ancient devices, one of the geeks had gotten fed up and arranged a crash course in the language basics. It was off the books at first. An informal study group/ coffee clatch with a few interested people and snacks from the kitchens.

Eventually it got bigger and more comprehensive until McKay and Weir got wind of it and set up a proper structure for the whole thing. Joaquin enjoyed the classes immensely, even though he struggled a bit with the syntax. He’d filled eight notebooks like this one with his writings, sketches and rubbings from the various stone carvings they’d come across off world.

The sound of someone dropping into the seat across from him made him look up from his musings. Dusty Mehra slouched in her seat, setting her own steaming mug and spiral bound notebook on the table. She was dressed in civvies, a pair of dark sweat pants and a shirt with Silver Age Wonder Woman decal. Her face looked freshly washed and her dark hair was pulled back into a messy bun and there was a pen tucked behind her ear. 

“Hey, Sarge.” He nodded to her, “Thanks for helping me out tonight. This last set of translations are really making my head hot.”

“Tell me about it.” Mehra chuckled and cracked open her own book. “Never thought I’d come all the way across the universe just to doing homework again.”

They spent the next hour going through the group sets, puzzling through some of the more complex translations and grilling each other on the more difficult symbols. The sergeant had just refreshed her third coffee when she sat back in her chair and just looked at him.

“What’s it like working with Kavanaugh?” 

Joaquin looked up at her, his pen stilling on the page. “Ok. I guess. He’s a good team mate. Can handle himself well on the field. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. Never had much cause to get to know him that well. Heard some stuff… the usual scuttlebutt. McKay’s not too fond of him. But then again, the Doc’s not too fond of anyone except for Shep.” 

Mehra quirked her lips, fiddling with her mug. “Lots of people around the city have opinions about your geek. Lots of stories floating around. I just wanted to hear about him from one of his own team.”

Joaquin mouth fell into a serious line. “What kind of stories? Why all the sudden interest in the doc?” 

“Shit… I’m not good at subtle. Allison told me to just forget about it but…” Mehra winced and looked out of the pane glass window to the ocean beyond; as if lost in thought. He waited for her to speak and finally she turned back to face him. “Lorne’s a great CO. Sheppard is an awesome commander but Lorne is the one who really has a hands-on approach with the military on the city. He's one of us you know. Really easy to talk to which is hard to find in the service. ”

“Fuck it. I’m no good at anything but talking straight.” She sighed and looked down into her mug. “I don’t give a shit about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Hell, the Atlantis Charter covers all our asses, McKay and Weir made sure of that. I just don’t want to see the Major hurt in any way.”

“And what… you think that Kav is what… somehow wrong for him in some way? that what? he'd treat the Major like shit or something?” Joaquin frowned and took a calming breath ,clenching his jaw. “Permission to speak freely, Sarge?”

She nodded solemnly “Granted.”

He took a breath. “Frankly, I think that both the Major and the Doc are grown people and can make their decisions… and mistakes. It sure as hell ain’t none of our business what two consenting adults do in their own time.”

He leaned back in his chair and folded his thick arms over his barrel chest. “Hey, I get where you’re coming from. You’re concerned about your friend and CO. But if he’s as level headed and competent as I’ve heard he is, then I don’t believe he’d appreciate you butting in like this.”

He met her gaze squarely and unblinkingly. “And I don’t appreciate being pumped for information about a teammate I trust and respect because of someone’s idle curiosity.”

He nodded his head in deference to her rank. “Ma’am.”

She stared at him for a moment, her face blank and unmoving. Then, working her jaw; she nodded silently and stood; grabbing her mug and gathering her books and pen. 

He blinked up at her, wary at her lack of response. “Same time next week, Sarge?”

She met his gaze, her dark eyes assessing him. It was more than just a simple question. He’d laid down the gauntlet and it was up to her to decide. She’d given permission to speak freely and had confessed herself to preferring ‘plain talk, bad manners’ but the subject had been a touchy one and friendships had been broken for less.

He wanted to know if things were still good between them. If she would be back to struggle through ancient translations with him. If she was still his friend and fellow soldier. Finally, she nodded, quirking up one corner of her lip before striding away. 

With a slow exhale through his nose, Joaquin slumped back in his chair and watched her vanish through the doors before gathering his own things to leave. 

“Coño.” he muttered under his breath. “Give me my Telenovelas any damn day, mijo, I hate real life drama.”

**Author's Note:**

> Scuttlebutt - military term for water cooler gossip


End file.
